Lost Hearts : an epilogue to Annabel Lee
by Alice Nightshade
Summary: What really happens to Annabel Lee's husband after his great loss?


"_She's gone. My beautiful Annabel Lee, gone."_

A distraught man muttered to himself over an over again as he paced about his seaside bedroom.

"_Why did they have to take her from me?"_

He walked over to the window bordered by mahogany curtain, passing a bed side table with a photograph on in. It showed a young couple, a dashing young man with black, wavy hair and a woman with long brown hair, flowing in the wind as the two sat on a cliff by the sea. Ah, how happy they had been together, smiling like it would remain like this forever. But things had changed since then, he was older now and his hair has started to lose its body as gray strands appeared that weren't there when that picture was taken. But the biggest change is that beautiful women grinning in the picture as she was held in her husband's arms, is now gone.

"That wave, that cursed wave. Brought down upon her by the angels in the heavens no less! They envied us, they were jealous of our love!" He cried out into the night, with only the wind howling in response.

Annabel Lee was her name, by this January she will have been dead for a year. That fateful day was a dark one, as word of her death spread throughout the town, a gloom seeped into every corner of every building and the townsfolk grew pale as the sparkle left their eyes. But now, it seems as though everyone has forgotten about her, everyone but her husband, still mourning over her death. He seemed just as forgotten as she was; no one wanted anything to do with him, having been labeled as insane. When he walked through the streets, which was a rare occasion, mothers ushered their children away from him, telling them not to look.

"They call me insane," he muttered to himself, "because they don't know the suffering I've been put through." He glanced at the picture and continued, "To have something so beautiful, so delicate, so angelic, taken away from you in an instant!"

Sometimes he could still hear her voice echoing in the room. Words of comfort and love and 'I'll always be here with you.' They were faint whispers now, but the continued to haunt him, in his sleep and at every corner he turned.

"You broke your promise to me. You said that you'd always be here with me and you'd always love me! What happened to that promise?!" His eyes now ablaze with canine savagery, "If you loved me, why did you leave me? No, you didn't leave; you were _taken_ by those 'angels'. They are no angels; they are demons of hell, demons of the darkest, deepest part of the sea."

"Now, now love. I'd rather have you light a candle than curse the darkness." A sweet voice called out.

"A-Annabel?" His face lit up into something resembling glee as he turned to the origin of the noise, only to find himself staring into empty space. His anger returned as he turned to the desk nearest to him and slammed his fist on it.

"WHY ARE YOU TORTURING ME LIKE THIS?!?!" He yelled to the heavens, his arms outstretched towards the sky in pure fury. After a few minutes of holding his arms out and breathing heavily, he put them down and returned to his spot by the window. Out of the corner of his eye he caught movement and he turned to his side.

"D-demons!" He cried out in fear as he stood there staring at the creatures before them. They were red, imp-like creatures with sharp horns protruding out of their skulls with reptilian eyes beaming at him, their sharp yellow teeth barred at him. One lunged at him and he sidestepped out of its way as he prepared for a counter attack. He grabbed the thing nearest him, in this case, the picture on the bed side table, and threw it at the creature.

The creature did not try to dodge for the frame merely passed through it, crashing into the wall behind it and shattering into a thousand pieces. A look of horror spread across his face as he realized what he had done. He ran over to the broken frame and cradled it in his arms, like one would cradle a newborn. He ran his fingers over the picture, the edges now fringed and torn as the years took its toll, the broken glass cutting his finger tips, causing drops of crimson blood to fall onto the picture; the drops spreading apart when they became entangled in the fibers of the paper. When he looked around again, the creatures were gone. He quickly got to his feet and looked about the room frantically.

"T-they're after me! I have to get out of HERE!"

He took the picture out of the broken frame and folded it before slipping it into his front pocket. Throwing the bedroom door open, he sprinted down the halls and out the door, forgetting to put his coat on. The cold air cut through his clothes and the wind stung his face, but he kept going, running through the garden and past the cast iron gate at the entrance to his house. He ran through the town, passing the bakery and the cobbler's shop, never stopping to catch his breath. For when the world saw nothing, he saw demons at his tail. Eventually he had to stop for he could go no further; he had reached the cliffs by the sea. He took a few steps back away from the edge and jerked his head this way and that, trying to see the demons. Once he felt they were gone, he unfolded the picture and held it in his trembling hands. Tears slowly welled up in his eyes as he sank to the ground, holding the picture close to his heart.

"There now love, don't cry." That same, sweet voice from before said.

He looked up and saw the face of his wife, his darling Annabel Lee. But this time, she had a heavenly glow radiating off of her.

"A-Annabel? Is that really you? I-I thought you were-" He stopped as memories from that awful night flooded back. They were taking a walk on the cliffs, thinking there was no harm to that at the time. When all of the sudden a huge wave sprang up over the cliffs, spraying the two with white water when one of the waves hit the cliffs jagged edges. It came down so fast that neither of them had realized what happened. He had managed to grab onto a rock but the ledge, but Annabel Lee was not as fortunate. The wave swept her away and pulled her into its current. He reached out his hand, trying as hard as he could to reach her. Their hands touched for a moment, but hers slipped away just as he was about to clasp his hand around hers. He cried out her name but to no avail, she was dragged over the rocks and into her sepulcher. The last thing he saw of her was her fear filled eyes and the last he heard of her was her piercing scream as the life was drained from her very being.

He reached out a trembling hand to touch hers, the same hand that escaped him when she was about to die. His hand gently rested in hers for a moment, it felt cool and airy; like the winds of early winter passing through a barren tree's branches, but it had an unusual warmth to it despite the chill he felt first. A warmth like when you're held in the arms of someone special, full of comfort and security. Slowly, he raised another hand to caress her ghostly face. She looked down at him with large, glittering, blue eyes, as she bent down to run her fingers through his hair. The man's body gave way underneath her as he broke into another fit of sobs. He rested his head on her lap while she held him closer. After a while she began to speak,

"You thought I was dead?" She suggested.

"Y-yes! But you're here now, and we can be together again!"

'You ran all the way to these cliffs," She looked back towards the direction of the manor. "And yet,"

"And yet what?" He asked, slightly puzzled

"And yet you couldn't save me." Her voice trailed off into a growl as the glow from her body left her. Her flesh began melting off, revealing her skeleton and muscles and her hands morphed into claws. The innocence left her eyes and they were replaced by yellow slits, gleaming with malice.

"Annabel! What's happening?" The man yelled out in fear.

"Come and rest with me!" She said, her voice dripping with evil.

He began to back away, stumbling on his heels until he pushed himself up from the rocky surface. Only a few feet had been put between them when Annabel lurched forward and began to stalk him, like a leopard would stalk its prey. The man began walking further back, his eyes glistening with unshed tears of fear, never looking away from the atrocity that lay before him. He couldn't believe, no, he would not believe that this demon in front of him was Annabel Lee. His thoughts were short lived though, as she started to fly at him, her body no more than a few inches from the ground. He broke into a run, all the while calling out for her to stop. He reached the edge and stopped, but she did not. She arched her back upward and pushed him.

"I'm sure you'll fine the bottom of the sea a lovely place to remain for the rest of you days." She cooed with extra emphasis on the last five words. As he stumbled backward, trying to regain his balance, one of the rocks slipped and his foot fell, taking the rest of the body with it. As his arms flailed about, he grabbed onto a tuff of her hair and dragged her down with him. A blood curdling scream escaped her lips as she fell with him. As they fell, he grabbed the rose in her hair and removed it as he approached the rocks at the bottom.

The next day, they found his body stabbed through one of the rocks at the bottom. The body of Annabel Lee was nowhere to be found, though no one suspected that it would be there. The fishermen who were out early that morning only saw the man. The police finally concluded that it was suicide. But doesn't that seem odd? Considering he was buried later that day, with the rose they found clenched in his lifeless hand that morning.


End file.
